Well to be fair, it may not be a confidence problem, but rather it seems he thought he earnt a shot at the champ already and didn't want to risk his meal ticket.

Yes, I would consider this more along the lines of businessman-like thinking than lack of confidence. Fairly comparable to the way a Ray Leonard or Gene Tunney managed their careers. I get the impression LaStarza was very sincere in his belief that he had won the first Marciano fight and could beat Marciano in a rematch; he just wasn't a gambler who was going to unnecessarily risk something he already viewed as secure.

Hasson's arguments seem fairly skewed and unfair on the whole, I'd say. It isn't true that LaStarza never fought a dangerous opponent other than Marciano; Dan Bucceroni was 38-2 and a RING top three contender when LaStarza beat him, and he positively smeared him, too. Layne was also top-three-ranked when LaStarza beat him, fresh off his win over Charles. Brion was a solid top 10. In a list like the one SuzieQ is compiling, I would consider Layne a good candidate for the top 10 and Bucceroni for the top 15. These are legitimate big wins for LaStarza, and in conjunction with his impressive result against Marciano the first time (in spite of Marciano's possibly-weakened mental state in the match), strong showing in the rematch (he was decisively beaten, but he was very competitive for much of it and did better than other potential candidates for a Marciano-era top 10 like Layne, Louis and Matthews did against Rocky) and impressive record with consistent results against second-and-third-tier competition, I think LaStarza easily qualifies for a top 10 spot amongst the heavyweights of his own era.

SAY WHAT!!! If this a Simmons in the gym, or Marciano vs Simmons for real?

Marciano vs Simmons from what I read was a tough match. Marciano was badly cut, and according to the book Italian Stallions, the match might have been stopped if Rocky was not the local undefeated fighter.

I have read the Life Magazine coverage of the Marciano-Simmons bout--actually coverage of Charley Goldman, but featuring comments on this bout and pictures--and off the pictures the cut was not bad enough to ******t a stoppage. The bleeding was under control and the cut appeared to be to the side of the eye so the blood drained down the cheek.

By the way, this article included one of the most gruesome boxing photos I have seen. The camera caught the impact of a Marciano right on the side of Simmons' face. The distortion is horrendous, possibly worse than the famous Walcott photo. Simmons' nose appears to be outside his right eye.